Laser processing may be conducted on numerous different types of workpieces using various lasers to effect a variety of processes. Lasers may be used to form, for example, a hole and/or blind via in a single layer or multilayer workpiece. Semiconductor wafer processing may include various types of laser micromachining including, for example, scribing, dicing, drilling, removal of semiconductor links (fuses), thermal annealing, and/or trimming passive thick or thin film components.
Lasers may be used to process sheets of material, such as plastics or optical films. Large plastic or optical sheets may be cut into smaller pieces for use in flat panel displays, such as those used in, for example, cellular phones, automobile navigation systems, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, televisions, and other electronic devices. Typically, a mechanical punching machine is used to cut the sheets of plastic or film material. The punching machines are fast, but many downtimes associated with the frequent replacement and maintenance of molds reduce the effective throughput. Further, the use of lasers to cut large sheets of material has been limited to straight cuts at high velocities.